Filling stations have raised their pump prices for petrol to N900/litre and above despite a decline in the cost of crude oil since Sunday.

Some retail outlets owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) raised petrol prices to N900 per litre in Lagos and Ogun, even as crude prices dropped from nearly $69 to $66 per barrel.

Dangote refinery partners, including Ardova and Heyden, jerked prices above N900 per litre. Our correspondent observed that AP, a partner of the Dangote refinery, sold petrol at the rate of N925 per litre in the Mowe area of Ogun State, while Heyden offered N910.

Filling stations along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway displayed different prices on Monday, confirming a new price regime despite no significant rise in crude prices or the naira-dollar exchange rate.

But marketers told The PUNCH that the prices might come down this same week.

Throughout last week, petrol was sold below N900 in many of the filling stations in Lagos, Ogun and environs, while the prices were higher in the South-East, South-South and the North.

As of yesterday, TotalEnergies sold petrol at N910 while Asharami offered N905 per litre. NIPCO and Fatgbems were yet to hit the N900 line on Monday, selling petrol at N890 and N892 respectively. Enyo sold the product at N915 per litre.

On Friday, the Dangote refinery confirmed raising its ex-depot petrol price to N850 from N820. No reason was given for the increment. The latest data from Petroleumprice.ng showed that petrol depot prices among selected suppliers averaged N855 per litre. Prices ranged from N850 at Aiteo to as high as N870 at Sobaz and Mainland, reflecting slight variations across major depots.

Other listed depots include NIPCO Lagos at N852, Northwest at N860, Alkanes at N860, Ever at N863, TSL at N864, Pinnacle at N851.5, Menj at N852, and Sahara at N855.

But as traders adjusted pump prices higher in Nigeria, Brent crude fell 4.4 per cent, while West Texas Intermediate finished 5.1 per cent lower on Friday. According to Reuters, oil held steady on Friday as markets awaited a meeting in the coming days between the Russian President, Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, but prices marked their steepest weekly losses since late June on a tariff-hit economic outlook.

Brent crude futures settled 16 cents, or 0.2 per cent, higher at $66.59 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were unchanged at $63.88. US crude fell over 1 per cent earlier in the session after it was reported that Washington and Moscow were aiming to reach a deal to halt the war in Ukraine that would lock in Russia?s occupation of territory seized during its military invasion.

Marketers expect price drop

Speaking, the National Publicity Secretary of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Joseph Obele, said marketers were expecting a drop in fuel prices this week.

Obele noted that fuel prices went up because crude prices rose about 10 days ago. However, he noted that crude prices dropped a few days later, stating that pump prices should be adjusted downward this week.

?Last weekend, there was a rise in the price of crude oil. So, arising from that, the refineries responded by adjusting their price upwards. A few days later, the price dropped again, arising from the meeting between Trump and the Russian Ambassador.

?What affected the price was the threat given by President Donald Trump to the Russian president. So, we saw an upward review and a few days later, when the threat subsided, traders reviewed the existing price downward. So, tomorrow, next tomorrow, we hope to see a downward review of the price of petroleum products,? he said

Obele added that another factor that pushed up petrol prices was the fact that the Dangote refinery ?suspended PMS loading for about eight days.? The refinery had since denied this claim, saying it supplies 40 million litres of petrol daily. Obele concluded that ?by Tuesday or so, we hope to see a downward review of petrol prices.? (The PUNCH)

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